Hospitalsdecision delay fury

Angry councillors last night attacked the continued delays about the future of health services around Bognor Regis and Chichester.

Members of Arun District Council said the uncertainty which surrounded St Richard's Hospital and Worthing Hospital, as well as the services available at Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital, were unacceptable.

They used a special debate of the full council to reinforce the views of the public that any reduction of services, particularly at the two main hospitals, was unacceptable. West Sussex Primary Care Trust director of strategy Sara Weech told councillors that the much-delayed consultation about the health services would finally start within three months.

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"It is a constant balance between the need to get on with the consultation and the need to ensure we have the right information. I would love to tell you that we will be going out to consultation next week but it will be by the end of the summer," she stated.

But Bognor Marine councillor Paul Wells said the year since the threats to the accident and emergency service at St Richard's had given local people plenty of time to make their views known.

Last July saw 1,200 people take to the streets of Bognor town centre to protest against any cutbacks, which could also affect maternity services at St Richard's, in the town's biggest protest march.

The peoples' mood had not changed, commented Cllr Wells. "Local taxpayers over the last 12 months have been quite vocal in terms of what they don't want to see in this reorganisation. Quite clearly the people of this district have spoken in terms of their major general hospitals and that they want to see them stay. The primary care trust should be telling central government that the public do not want what is being proposed for their local hospitals."

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Littlehampton Beach councillor Dr James Walsh, a part-time GP, said the A27 and the A259 were recognised by the government's regional agency as being overloaded with traffic. Traffic jams were a regular feature of the A27 at Chichester, Arundel and Worthing among many other sites. These could threaten patients' lives if they had to be taken further afield because the present level of services at St Richard's and Worthing were reduced.

Average journey times were meaningless for longer trips by ambulance. The primary care trust had to take into account longer journeys at times of peak traffic in the mornings and evenings.

"At this time of year, around Chichester, Bognor and Littlehampton our roads jam up for 2-3 hours in the mornings and in the evenings because of the number of tourists. We have all been a victim of this," he stated.

Cllr Mark Butler (Littlehampton River) said: "Taking away hospital services from Chichester and Worthing is completely unsustainable for our area."

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But Ms Weech said it was the current level of hospital services which could not be maintained. It was important to look into the future and recognise that medical care was becoming more specialised.

This meant fewer, more modern hospitals for the most seriously ill patients with a large network of local care for the majority of patients. Either St Richard's or Worthing hospital would become a major general hospital, with the other downgraded to only dealing with some accident and emergency cases and births. The primary care trust was working with the ambulance service to ensure more paramedic and emergency care practitioners would be trained to provide care for patients as soon as they arrived at a scene. This contrasted with the traditional role of ambulances in merely transporting patients to hospitals.

But she said a large role in the new-look health service would be played by hospitals such as Bognor's.

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